Conditioning wet cereals.



R. W. JESSUP.

CONDITIONING WET CEREALS. APPLICATION FILED 00T.14. 1907.

916,448. Patented 1909.

m I m x em j M; I

this chamber is to UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT W, JESSUP, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FAIRFAX H.

' \VHEELAN, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

CONDITIONING LT-T CEREALS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 30, 1909.

Cereals, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to the art of conditioning wet cereals, particularly wheat.

-My invention consists in first commingling the wet or damp cereal with heated sand to effect a heat interchange, and, then, in separating the sand from said cereal.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, effective and economical process of raising the grade of, or as it is termed in the art, conditioning wet cereals, particularly, wet or damp wheat, to render it marketable.

In the accompanyin simple form of apparatus in which my invention may be carried out; though it'is to be un'derstood'that I do not confine myselfto such apparatus, as it is obvious that other forms may be used.

In this a paratus, 1 is the commingling or heat-interc anging chamber, the discharge of which is provided with a suitable controllable ate 2. A good construction for make in its sides, a vertical series of openings 3, through which :0- ject inwardly the bent ends 4 of plate 5 secured to the outside of the chamber. These bent plates thus divide the chamber into a series of communicating compartments, and the o enings 3 provide vents for the steam and aIso permit inspection.

6 is a screen of a mesh suitable for the separation of the sand from the material being operated upon, say, for example, wheat.

7 is a chute underlying the screen, to receive the separated sand.

8 is a heater chamber of suitable character, to which the chute 7 delivers the sand. Any means may be employed to heat this chamber, such, for example, as the steam pipes 9.

10 is an. elevator of suitable form, such, for instance, an endless cup-elevator, as indicated. The discharge 11 from the heater delivers the heated sand to this elevator.

12 is a supply bin, the discharge 13 from which delivels the damp or wet grain to the drawing, in Which the figure 1s a sectional elevation, I show a sand discharge 11, by which it is delivered,

with the heated sand, to the'elevator cups. The elevator has the discharge spout 14 which delivers the heated sand and the; wet

rain to the commingling or heat-interchanging chamber 1.

15 is a passage to receive the rain from the screen surface, after the san has been separated from it.

. The process carried out in this apparatus, and described in terms of wheat, is as follows :-Sand being supplied to the heater chamber 8, is heated therein and is delivered in proper" portions or quantity to the elevator cups. \et wheat from the bin 12 is also delivered in pro or quantity, with the heated sand, to .sai elevator cu s. The

heated sand and the wet wheat are elivered Wise that the wheat is relieved of its excessive moisture. When the chamber 1' is filled, and the Wheat relieved of its moisture,

its contents is discharged upon the screen 6 in a continuous stream the size ofrwhich is governed by the time necessary to take up the excess of moisturefrom the wheat in said chamber. I find about ten minutes sutlicient for very wet grain. The sand falls through the screen upon the chute 7, while the Wheat passes down. over the screen, efl'ectually shaking its grains clear of any clinging sand, and is delivered to the passage 15 and thence to a sack 16 or other receptacle, in which, due to the heat it received from the sand, it completes the conditioning process as it cools. The sand separated from the wheat by the screen is delivered by the chute 7 to the chamber 8 and is reheated and used again as before.

I find that the quantity of moisture abstracted from the wheat is not sufficient to" prevent the sand from flowing; but, as each grain of sand is non-porous ornon-absorbent,

the moisture adheres to its surface only.

chute 7 of a series of steps, as shown, so that the sand in passing over the chute will repeatedly drop from one step to the next, and thus separate its grains.

In the commingling chamber here shown, the materials passing to the successive compartments, are better mingled, alternately spreading out. and being congested again, t ereby interchanging their heat in the best manner, and getting rid of the steam through the openings 3, which latter, also, by giving opportunity for ins ection, rovide for the proper regulation 0 the disc arging stream at the bottom, to suit the condltion ofthe evaporation as found by observation at the several points or stages of the course of the commingled materials through the chamber. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let? ters Patent is The process of conditioning a wet cereal, which consists, first, in commingling it with sand heated to a temperature adapted to raise the grade of said cereal by evaporating the excess of moisture therefrom; and, second, in separating the sand from the cereal after an interchange of heat sufiicient only to effect said evaporation.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT W. JESSUP. 

